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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Reindeer
Games - Directors Cut.
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Reviewed
by: |
Brad
Tobin. |
| Genre: |
Thriller |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
Widescreen - 2.35 |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital 5.1 |
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English |
| Length: |
2
hrs |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
March
27, 2001 |
| Studio: |
Dimension |
| Commentary:
|
Yes
- Director John Frankenheimer |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
6
minute "Set Pass" featurette |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Yes |
|
Interviews: |
In
the "Set Pass" featurette |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Original
Theatrical Trailer |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Yes
- Included in the film |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Ben Affleck.
Charlize Theron. Gary Sinise. James Frain. Dennis Farina |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by:
Ehren Kruger |
| Produced
by: |
Marty Katz. Bob Weinstein.
Chris Moore |
| Directed
By: |
John Frankenheimer |
| Music: |
Alan Silvestri |
| The
Review: |
Rudy Duncan
(Ben Affleck) has spent the last few years in prison thanks
to a Grand Theft Auto charge, but freedom is just around the
corner. He looks forward to hot chocolate and pecan pie while
his cellmate Nick Cassidy (James Frain) (who is also set for
release) has a girl waiting for him in the form of Ashley (Charlize
Theron), a beautiful young woman he met through a prison pen
pal system. But when Nick is killed just before the two find
freedom, Rudy sees Ashley and makes a rash decision, to pretend
that he is Nick. He promises himself that it'll only be for
the holidays, which start off filled with sex, romance, and
affection, but that all ends when Gabriel (Gary Sinise) shows
up with his cohorts. You see, Gabriel wants to use Nick's knowledge
of a casino to help him rob the place, but what he doesn't know,
is that Nick is dead and that leaves Rudy, who knows nothing
about the casino. How long will Rudy try to keep the facade
alive and when he comes clean, how long will Gabriel allow him
to live? "Reindeer Games" is a film of mixed blessings. At best,
it's a highly original and fresh Film Noir. At it's worst it
is a boring mess that strives for every cliché in the book.
Generally it reaches an unhappy medium between these two extremes,
but as I am quite a Film Noir fan, I find "Reindeer Games" to
be quite a guilty pleasure, especially this Directors Cut which
greatly improves on the theatrical version. For a film that
was most definitely promoted as an Action / Thriller, it provides
very few thrills and even less action. What it does provide
is a nice Film Noir-ish plot, a sometimes very witty script,
some good performances and a surprisingly quirky sense of humor.
It is Not the action fest that many (including myself) expected
which is probably the main reason for its lack of commercial
success. People thinking that this Directors Cut will add to
the action quota will also be disappointed, it adds to the grittiness,
the edginess, the quirky comedy and the sex. That last bit should
rope a few more viewers in. "Reindeer Games" is basically a
modern day Film Noir; it has all the film noir staples in spades,
the Not-Perfect hero, the Not-Trustworthy leading lady and a
cast full of bad guys. I was going to type "Cardboard Bad Guys",
but that would be unfair to Gary Sinese, who once again (as
he did in "Ransom" yet failed to do in "Snake Eyes") gives a
delicious performance as Gabriel, the head villain. His performance
is the films strongest, the films father performance, he keeps
all the other performers in check. Even when he is knocking
other characters around they seem to be looking up to him. Ben
Affleck doesn't try to hard to make his character likeable,
he doesn't have to, Ben is a naturally likeable guy. Even if
you don't like his character or his characters choices, we understand
why he does what he does and I for one wanted to see how things
turned out for this guy whose only real crime (excluding that
measly little GTA charge) was he was at the wrong place at the
wrong time. Other good performances come from the always strong
Dennis Farina and Frankenheimer favourite Clarence Williams
III. The weak link in the performances as far as I'm concerned
is Charlize Theron, she has played this kind of role one too
many times, and in better films (take her "Devil's Advocate"
role and combine it with her "2 days in the Valley" role and
there you have it). He motivation at the start wasn't convincing
and he motivation at the end (which I'll get to soon) was even
less convincing. She tries hard with a poorly written character
but she could have tried harder as I just couldn't sympathize
with her. And now for the ending, which has already been much
debated by viewers and savagely criticised by critics, and quite
rightly so. The ending of "Reindeer Games" looks like it was
stolen from a bad teen slasher pic, being that the writer Ehren
Kruger also wrote "Scream 3", I wasn't too surprised, but being
that he also wrote "Arlington Road", I was Very surprised, that
film had one of the most Surprising and Shocking endings in
recent memory, why he tacked on such a sell-out ending onto
"Reindeer Games is beyond me. It is a definite make or break
ending for the film, and I fear it will be Breaking more than
it will be Making. |
| Image
and Sound |
Well, we
start with the menu scenes, which are pretty generic, Christmas
themed stills, as are the Special features and Sound sections.
The Scene Selection section is cleverly conceived and well animated,
utilising sound and images from the film well. We start the
film and it looks Crisp, Clear and Cool from start credits to
end credits. Its one of those films (like "Cliffhanger") that
suck you into their whether conditions, so now and then I actually
felt cold. The sound is top notch, with great use of the surround
speakers. During the Directors Commentary the sound is a little
off as Frankenheimer talks, but otherwise it is all Flawless.
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| The
Extras |
Being that
this is a Directors Cut, one would expect a few more features,
but what can you do. The deleted stuff that is now back in the
film add to it a Helluva lot. It is virtually a different film
now. The stuff that is In the Theatrical version and Deleted
from the Directors cut isn't so good, Frankenheimer knows good
material when he sees it. We get a 6-minute "Set Pass" featurette
that sheds a little light on the making of the film. It limits
itself to the Prison scenes that take up the films first 30
minutes. We get cast and crew interviews in this featurette
that consist of everyone talking about how great everyone else
is to work with. Frankenheimer discusses his casting of a professional
footballer as a prison tough, but apart from that, it's all
"Big Note the Other Guy's" talk. The original theatrical trailer
glorifies the film immensely, I saw the trailer after I just
watched the film and it made me want to watch the film again.
Last but not least we get the Biographies, which give quite
a lot of info on the actors and the director. Ben Afflecks filmography
is so up to date; there are 7 or 8 films ahead of "Reindeer
Games". |
| Commentary |
John Frankeheimer
relishes the fact that he is able to bring us the film in this
Directors Cut form, it is being shown the way it was intended
to be and he is quite proud of it. He greatly regrets cutting
the film, test audiences didn't react to it as positively as
the producers and the distributors hoped and he was under immense
pressure to cut the length and the grittiness down. He doesn't
sit there blaming the producers, the distributors or the audiences
for the cuts, he willingly chose to make them, he makes it quite
clear that he wasn't forced, nevertheless, he regrets doing
it. He doesn't feel to fondly about the test screening process,
stating that "Casablanca would have been cut to pieces due to
the Editing process". He makes a strong point with this statement
and I am in total agreeance. He talks about the few lines of
dialogue here and there that appear in the Theatrical version
but not this one, as they were included to lighten the tone
of the film. He obviously doesn't regret getting rid of them.
He talks about the Reshoots needed that caused the film to miss
its planned Christmas release date. Frankenheimer really, really
admires these actors. Like he says in the "Set Pass" featurette,
"If someone told me I'd be working with Ben, Charlize and Gary
in every film for the rest of my life, I'd say fine." He talks
about them with quite a lot in this commentary too, and about
Clarence Williams III who he has worked with 6 times. He briefly
mention his other films "One Day in September", "52 Pick Up",
"The Manchurian Candidate", "The Train" and "Grand Prix", yet
he goes into a little more detail about two other films of his,
"Ronin" and "The Fourth War". Understandably he never mentions
the "Island of Dr Moreau" Debacle. John remembers every cut
in the film like they were cuts on his own body, he is very,
very proud of the film in this version, with only a few things
he would change after the benefit of "20/20 Hindsight", as he
calls it. This is amount the Better commentaries I've ever heard
as he is a Masterful Director with a great body of work who
is proud to have "Reindeer Games" in his Filmography. Definitely
a Must listen for Frankenheimer fans. |
| Final
Words: |
Overall,
I would recommend "Reindeer Games" to Genre fans, Film Noir
fans, Frankenheimer fans and people with a weird sense of humour,
a dark, edgy Coen brother's sense of humour. Fans of Subtle
laughs and Gritty crime flicks should also enjoy, but anyone
who doesn't fit into any of those categories are warned to proceed
with Extreme caution. One thing to remember is, if you've only
seen the Theatrical version, you ain't seen nothing yet. _________________________________________________________________________ |
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